FanGraphs Audio: Catching Coach Bobby Wilson Says Stay in School

by
September 9, 2022

Episode 991

On this edition of the podcast, we welcome a former big-league catcher who knows a lot about the position before some banter about an awards race between two unicorns.

  • To kick things off, David Laurila welcomes Bobby Wilson, veteran of 10 major league seasons and current catching coach for the Texas Rangers. Wilson has gone from being drafted in the 48th round in 2002, to playing for seven clubs (including alongside Jeff Mathis and Mike Napoli in Anaheim), to now finding himself teaching young catchers everything he knows. We get insight into how important the pitcher/catcher relationship is, how analytics and technology have changed the game since Wilson’s playing days, what it was like to catch Ervin Santana’s no-hitter, the one-knee approach to catching, and how vital it is to continue learning as the game evolves. [3:13]
  • In the second segment, Dan Szymborski is joined by Jay Jaffe for some banter about the American League MVP race. Aaron Judge has been record-setting levels of incredible, while Shohei Ohtani continues to do things that have simply never been done by anyone else. Jay and Dan discuss the fascinating (but complicated) nuances involved with comparing this apple and orange, and how there doesn’t seem to be an airtight case for either player just yet. After that, the duo talk about Zac Gallen’s remarkable scoreless innings streak, which has prompted an Orel Hershiser comparison that Jay has some opinions about. Finally, the pair muse on how they don’t make them like Justin Verlander anymore, as well as Jay’s developing S-JAWS system. [35:05]

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Audio after the jump. (Approximate 56 minute play time.)

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Dylan assists in producingFanGraphs Audio, Effectively Wild, and the FanGraphs Live Twitch channel. He also enjoys the Waxahachie Swap (RIP), the Air Bud principle, and the Oxford comma. You can Tweet him about any of those things @dhhiggins.

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